Final Summer's Eve
by spring13
Summary: Night falls as Sasori holds Deidara one last summer's eve. SasoXDei. One shot.


Engulfed the scent of meadow grasses, I wanted to continue embracing Deidara for eternity. I breathed in the heavy saccharine scent of his golden locks, closing my eyes and letting chills advance slowly down my spine. Despite my outward puppet appearance, I could still feel as if I was still human, a feat that took far too long to accomplish and wouldn't be enjoyed much longer. Deidara's eyes fluttered as he heard me inhale and felt my body shiver in delight. _Nn, Sasori. _A smile crept upon my lips as I lightly chuckled, acknowledging my partner's response.

A warm summer breeze drifted past us, reminding me of the fleeting daylight, and I gently positioned Deidara's head facing upward in my lap, careful not to disturb him. I gazed upon his face, affectionately tracing the outlines of his features with my fingers. I could feel the imperfections beneath wooden extremities. Each scar, though slight, told a story of our past exploits, and each bruise or cut told of our most recent.

I rubbed his face softly, removing caked on blood as I did so, revealing porcelain skin stained with patches of irremovable soot. I saw his eyes wince as one of my wooden joints caught, hints of blood welling up in its place. His eyes opened slightly. A flash of blue showed that his gorgeous eyes, once shimmering with excitement, were now dulled over by a hazy film. The left mechanism was an indiscernible crumble of steel parts and glass, embedded within the socket.

Deidara let out a muted groan of discontent. His arm rose in an attempt to reach me, but was quickly accompanied by tremors and fell useless to the grass. A choked cry formed in the back of my throat at the sight of his helpless, once powerful form. I grabbed his hand and lifted it to my face. He was cold, even to me, despite the lack of warmth my wooden body could generate, a sullen reminder of his inevitable fate.

I closed my eyes, wishing that I could share the pain with my dying partner and lift the burden. But my body could not feel pain. It could be broken apart, but I was always able to put it back together again. My Deidara, though, was real. He hurt, he bled, he bruised. Not even Kakuzu could put back together the gaping hole in his chest left by the Leaf ninja.

Although I couldn't feel physical distress like him, remnants of my human soul still lingered, leaving only emotional anguish to take its place. I wished I could form true tears to show him how much I cared about him, but I didn't have a mechanism for that. All I could do was hold him in his last moments, and keep him from passing alone.

I opened my eyes again as Deidara used what energy he had left to turn his head and meet my gaze. He silently pleaded with me, and I nodded, granting him a final request. I used my free hand to methodologically attach chakra strings to key points along his body, infusing more chakra within him to help relieve the discomfort.

I tested the puppet strings, moving him onto the grass, and slowly lowered my entire self over him. Carefully, I controlled his arms to link around me and positioned our legs around each other. For just a moment, I saw my Deidara back in full health again, but it was a fleeting vision of nostalgia. I closed my eyes and let the image of my former lover stay imprinted in my mind. I wouldn't show him pity or worry in his last moments, but the love and compassion he was familiar with.

The chakra I had transferred internally seemed to grant him back some of his strength, though just slightly. I rested my cheek against his and whispered softly to him _I love you eternally_. A single glistening tear escaped the corner of his eye, catching on delicate blonde lashes. I kissed his face, slowly moving downward until my lips met his. I felt his mouth subtly part in anticipation, and I gladly pressed my mouth to meet him.

His body, immobilized, could not react as he normally would, but it didn't have to. I use the attached chakra strings to move his body against mine, eliciting a moan from both parties as our hips pressed against each other. Despite being fully clothed, the sensations were enough to relive the secret moments that we had shared behind watchful Akatsuki eyes. Hiding our relationship had never been easy. But now, as he lay dying before me, I didn't care if anyone saw. It wasn't as if they could kill me; no one but Deidara, who had memorized every bit of my unclothed body, knew about my attached soul.

Our tongues met within his mouth, fervently grasping, searching for a semblance of the past. Chakra trails could sense his elevated heart rate and increasing difficulty breathing, and trickles of sweat began to mingle with blood. My sensitive hearing mechanisms detected suppressed cries of pain, and I opened my eyes to see his tightly closed, a fusion of pain and pleasure.

I hesitated to continue, but I knew that he wouldn't want me to. I moved faster, ignoring his decreasing health, and thinking only of what he wanted. I wasn't ever one to be selfless, but Deidara brought out a side of me I believed to be long gone since the day my parents were killed. Never had I thought that I could feel the warmth of happiness again, or ever want to test it. Deidara was beautiful, exciting, and frustrating. He always kept me guessing, but wanting more.

His heart was going too fast, and I knew that he didn't have much longer. But I didn't regret anything. I didn't regret forming a bond with someone only mortal, destined to someday die whether by war or by age. All of the moments that we had spent together, they were all worth it, and I knew that this last moment together meant just as much to him as those preceding it.

Deidara's eyes opened, and a smile appeared on his face. _Nn, Sasori. My donna. _His chest heaved upward, accompanying eyes open with surprise. A final breath escaped his parted lips, all traces of my partner, my lover, leaving with it. My chakra strings released with pain as his arms fell like stone.

I bit my lip, hoping for pain to distract me, but nothing could tear my focus away from Deidara's face, slowing glazing over with death. I silently wondered how the world could continue to spin without Deidara here. I slid off his limp body and lay amidst the meadow grasses, unable to escape the overwhelming sadness. The sky overhead was dark, no longer lit with the day's potential.


End file.
